Chapter 9:Electronic Commerce Software

Electronic Commerce, Sixth Edition

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Web Hosting Alternatives

• Self-hosting– Running servers in-house

• Commerce service providers (CSPs)– Provide Internet access to companies and

individuals

– Offer Web server management and the renting of application software

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Web Hosting Alternatives (continued)

• Shared hosting– Client’s Web site is on a server that hosts other

Web sites simultaneously

• Dedicated hosting– Service provider makes a Web server available to

a client

• Co-location– Service provider rents a physical space to the

client to install its own server hardware

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Basic Functions of Electronic Commerce Software

• All electronic commerce solutions must provide

– A catalog display

– Shopping cart capabilities

– Transaction processing

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Basic Functions of Electronic Commerce Software (continued)

• Additional software components

– Middleware

– Application integration

– Web services

– Integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software

– Supply chain management (SCM) software

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Catalog Display

• Catalog

– Listing of goods and services

• Static catalog

– Simple list written in HTML that appears on a Web page

• Dynamic catalog

– Stores information about items in a database

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Small Electronic Commerce Site

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Shopping Cart

• Problems with forms-based shopping

– Shoppers had to write down product information before going to the order form

– Customers sometimes forgot whether they had clicked the submit button

– Confusing and error prone

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Using a Form to Enter an Order

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Transaction Processing

• Occurs when a shopper proceeds to the virtual checkout counter by clicking a checkout button

• Calculation complications

– Computing taxes and shipping costs

– Provisions for coupons, special promotions, and time-sensitive offers

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Advanced Functions of Electronic Commerce Software

• Middleware (connectivity software)– Establishes a connection between electronic

commerce software and an accounting system– Lies between application and operating system– Uses software agents to support distributed

applications

• Interoperability– Making a company’s information systems work

together

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BEA Technology Solutions Page

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Enterprise Application Integration and Databases

• Tying together of different applications with middleware is known as EAI

• Application program– Program that performs a specific function

• Application server– Computer that takes request messages received

by the Web server and runs application programs

• Business logic– Rules used in the business

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Application Integration and Databases (continued)

• Distributed information systems

– Large information systems that store the same data in many different physical locations

• Distributed database systems

– Databases within distributed information systems

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Web Services

• Combination of software tools that let application software in one organization communicate with other applications over a network

• Companies are using Web services to offer improved customer service and reduce costs

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SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL• Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)

– Message-passing protocol – Makes code available to remote machines– Language neutral

• Web Services Description Language (WSDL)– XML based format in which a publisher describes

their Web services

• Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) specification– A registry in which Web services can be

advertised

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Integration with ERP Systems

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software packages – Business systems that integrate all facets of a

business

• Major ERP vendors– Baan, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP

• Typical installation of ERP software costs between $2 million and $25 million

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ERP System Integration with EDI

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Electronic Commerce Software for Small and Midsize Companies

• CSPs

– Have same advantages as ISP hosting services

– Low cost is biggest single advantage

– Offer free or low-cost electronic commerce software for building electronic commerce sites

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Mall-Style Commerce Service Providers

• Provide small businesses with

– Internet connection

– Web site creation tools

– Little or no banner advertising clutter

• Provide shopping cart software

• CSPs that offer mall-style commerce services

– eBay Stores and Yahoo! Store

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Yahoo! Store

• Serves as the business Web host for

– Kennedy Space Center Space Shop

– The Sharper Image

– PalmPilotGear

• Manager is a Yahoo software product that is used to examine statistical information, set up acceptable payment methods, set up preferred customer shipping methods, and change global settings

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Merchant Account Processing

Merchant account processing services are provided by a bank or a third party processor (on behalf of a bank) and give the merchant the ability to authorize credit cards transactions and settle funds through bank associations (MasterCard/Visa).

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Bigstep

• Received many industry awards for its CSP offering

• Provides two different storefront packages

• Reports

– Provide data-mining capabilities

• Data mining

– Looking for hidden patterns in data

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Electronic Commerce Software for Midsize to Large Businesses

• Midrange packages allow a merchant to have explicit control over

• Merchandising choices

• Site layout

• Internal architecture

• Remote and local management options

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Intershop Enfinity

• Intershop Enfinity MultiSite provides

– Search and catalog capabilities

– Electronic shopping carts

– Online credit card transaction processing

– The ability to connect to existing back-end business systems and databases

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IBM WebSphere Commerce Professional Edition

• Set of software components that provides software suitable for midsize to large businesses

• Includes

– Catalog templates

– Setup wizards

– Advanced catalog tools

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Microsoft Commerce Server 2002

• Allows businesses to sell products or services on the Web using the following tools– User profiling and management– Transaction processing– Product and service management– Target audience marketing

• Provides many predefined reports for analyzing site activities and product sales data

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Electronic Commerce Software for Large Businesses

• Examples of enterprise-class products that can be used to run a large online business– IBM WebSphere Commerce Business Edition

– Oracle E-Business Suite

– Broadvision One-To-One Commerce

• Enterprise-class software– Typically provides good tools for linking to and

supporting supply and purchasing activities

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Typical Enterprise-Class Electronic Commerce Architecture

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Customer Relationship Management Software

• Must obtain data from operations software that conducts activities such as

– Sales automation

– Customer service center operations

– Marketing campaigns

• Must also gather data about

– Customer activities on the company’s Web site and any other points of contact

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Supply Chain Management Software

• Helps companies to coordinate planning and operations with their partners in the industry supply chains

• Performs two general types of functions

– Planning

– Execution

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SCM Software

• Supply chain management (SCM) improves the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers.

• ERP vendors like SAP’s Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) can serve large applications

• Because each industry’s supply chain has a unique set of challenges, many companies decide to go with targeted best of breed products instead, even if some integration is an inevitable consequence.

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Content Management Software

• Should be tested before making a commitment

• Employees should find a software’s procedures for performing regular maintenance to be straightforward

• Helps companies control the large amounts of text, graphics, and media files

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Documentum Content Management Web Site

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Knowledge Management Software

• Helps companies do four main things

– Collect and organize information

– Share information among users

– Enhance ability of users to collaborate

– Preserve knowledge gained through use of information

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End of Ch. 9